The Bad News Bears Today . . .

Sorry to say, this classic film about little league baseball would never get made today!

The reasons are very simple. Since this mid-70s, we have stifled free speech and free expression in this country, even as it relates to film and taped entertainment. In numerous articles, I have talked about how classic TV shows such as “All in the Family” and “Sanford and Son,” would not get made in this current political environment. It is mostly because of PC run amok. But, it’s really much deeper than that.

Further, it even would probably permeate to feature films as well. A prime example is the original “Bad New Bears,” which was recently ranked 27 in the best sports films of all time. As all of you know, this is a film about a little league baseball team in Los Angeles, California. The team is made up from a bunch of misfits. We used to call them nerds. I don’t know if we are even allowed to say that now. However, the team consisted of more than just nerds. It was minority groups, JD’s and even a girl pitcher (Tatum O’Neal). The team is so bad after their first two games that they consider disbanding it and quitting the league. Through some smart managerial decisions, they begin winning.

This film seems harmless enough right? So, now you must be wondering why I think PC would stop this movie from being made? This weekend, it was playing on the MLB Network and I had the pleasure of watching and restoring my childhood memories. I was appalled at some of the cuts made. For example, any illusion to a certain “N” word descriptive of African American slaves was cut from the movie. The same is also true of any other descriptive word for Jews, Hispanics, etc, even though these were some of the funniest and most memorable lines from the movie.

You may think these are meaningless edits. However, in this case, they aren’t. One of the points of the film is that minorities were not permitted into the league. The father of one of the sons sued to rectify that. Therefore, these racist terms of art, are very important to the plot and theme of the movie. It is not meaningless cuts. It was actually changing the authors point of view.

That is not all of the reasons however. The reasons this film would not receive a green light go much deeper. This film is about winning at all costs. It is about competition among 11 year old children. It is about parents pushing their kids to win. Losing, in this movie, is unacceptable and defines failure, not only to the children, but to the parents as well. At one point, the Walter Matthau character, states something along the line of: “This quitting thing gets to be a habit once you start at it.” And, my reader, this win at all costs attitude is the primary reason this film would not get made in 2014.

In the Obama years as these will come to be known, we have completed the wussification of America. We no longer teach our kids to win. We teach them that everyone wins and nobody loses. In the early years of little league now we don’t even keep score. Everyone bats. Everyone has a chance. The cream doesn’t rise to the top. Everyone is equal. Pure Obama. It is completely pathetic.

In fact, I read an article last week posted on my friend Shannon Ivey’s Facebook page entitled: THIS YOUNG MOTHER IS GIVING UP ON HER KIDS AND I DON’T BLAME HER. The title of the article is a little misleading. The article is about the exact opposite. It is about giving our kids the freedom to mess up – letting them be kids. To quote the author:

In completely selfish terms, bringing my boys into this world was such a great decision – for me. They bring me so much joy, they fill my heart, they make me happy. But I often question whether or not it was the right decision for them. My boys are typical little boys. They love to play guns. They love to play good guy versus bad guy. They love to wrestle and be rowdy. That’s the nature of little boys, as it has been since the beginning of time.

This is probably one of the most un-PC articles I’ve ever read. And, it gets to the point of why the “Bad News Bears, could not be made in the current political climate. We do not promote American Exceptionalism or the need to excel anymore. Progressives are trying to turn us into a socialist state where everything is mediocre and nothing is great. The Bad News Bears is about winning and it involves humiliating our kids to win. It involves trying to outdo the other side.

This, unfortunately, in 2014 is unacceptable in America and that’s a shame!

Kids Drinking Beer

PS: I won’t even mention the scenes in which the kids are drinking beer and the parents don’t seem to mind.

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One Response to "The Bad News Bears Today . . ."

If I recall correctly, the Walter Matthau character at the end of the movie rejected the “win at all cost” attitude exemplified by the coach portrayed by Vic Morrow. While I understand the point being made, which I think is best illustrated in Billy Cyrstal’s movie “Parental Guidance” in the Little League scene where players stay at bat until they get on base, it’s not so much driving our kids to win but not letting them lose. One of the best sports quote of all time is by Christy Matheson, the Hall of Fame NY Giant pitcher called the Christian Gentleman, who said: You learn nothing from winning but everything from losing.” And the worst sports quote of all time is by Vince Lombardi, who said: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” Our successes don’t make us better – dealing with our losses and learning from them make us better. That’s why I love baseball because more than any sport you have to learn to deal with failure if you’re going to win and why I loathe football because winning is the only thing. Baseball is life. Football is war.